


Hollow Doll

by silverwolf_fox



Category: One Piece
Genre: Character Study, Death, Death Fascination, F/M, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:53:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26807674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverwolf_fox/pseuds/silverwolf_fox
Summary: Perona has no memories of Before. She knows what she was, but only because Master Moria told her so. On the day he plucked her from her bed and imbued her with the power of the Horo Horo no Mi, her body turned to flesh, living but unchanging, and she began a new journey of discovery about humanity and death.
Relationships: Dracule Mihawk/Perona, Gekko Moriah & Perona
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Hollow Doll

Perona has no memories of Before. She knows what she was - cold porcelain with a painted on face - and she knows where she lied - atop a frilly bed against a pile of dusty pillows - but these are things she knew only because Master Moria told her so. On the day he plucked her from her bed and imbued her with the power of the Horo Horo no Mi, the fruit’s spirit possessed her. It softened her body into flesh, frozen limbs bending and stretching in ways that were formerly unknown to her and yet were all she had ever known. The taste on her tongue, the first sensation of her first memory, was putrid. Sour. Rancid. Words she knew but had no memory of learning.

Everything was so incredibly new. Gaps in her knowledge were filled by experience as she obediently followed her beloved Master Moria wherever he decided to go. He collected others - none quite like her - and declared them the Gecko Pirates. They were all human, and often Perona would find herself pausing, wondering if she qualified as such. Nothing seemed overtly different between them and her, but there was a piece of her that was always aware of her oddities. Things that were just a hair past normal that they became unsettling, skin too pale and smooth for a sea-faring pirate or dark eyes that were a fraction too large. She and Master Moria often drew attention wherever they travelled, and even their crew was not immune to the strange sight of a large, devilish man always followed closely behind by a petite young lady as pretty as a doll.

Gold Roger's execution was a turning point for them all. Master Moria insisted that they set sail to Loguetown in order to witness the momentous event in person, and so they walked the streets together, uncaring of the crowds as Master Moria forced his way to a perfect location to watch. He picked Perona up and allowed the small girl to daintily perch on his shoulder. Perona watched the execution with rapt attention. Death was a fascinating concept for someone who doubted the truth of her own version of life, and as the infamous Pirate King climbed the staircase leading to his final rest, as he proclaimed his treasure, and as blood flowed from his wounds, Perona didn't smile or laugh as Master Moria did. She didn't cry or jeer. She simply watched, preferring to observe how the permanence of death affected those around her.

Only when storm clouds darkened the sky and she loudly complained about her dress getting rained on did Master Moria decide to head back to the ship, but as they left, a shiver unlike any she'd ever experienced crept up her spine. When she turned, she was certain she saw the flash of a golden stare before it vanished within the crowd. Consumed with the need to know, Perona summoned a hollow from her fingertips and sent it off. Comfortably sitting on Master Moria's shoulder, she was free to shut her eyes and see through the beady eyes of her hollow. It wandered above and through the crowd, sending several to the ground in tears with each accidental brush of its ghostly body. The hollow went in any direction she deemed appropriate until she felt that piercing sensation. Standing before a slice of her soul was a man with skin as pale as her own porcelain creation. With hair as dark as night and a sword as long as he was tall, he stood still, eyes focused on her hollow with eerie precision. That haunting gaze, the eyes of a predator, staring with an intensity that seemed to demand an answer from her without even asking a question. 

A sudden pounding in her chest sent her gasping. Perona gripped the spot above her heart in wonder. The organ existed in still silence, never beating as she knew others’ did, but it raced as she watched the handsome man pull a knife from his necklace and erase her hollow from existence.

Forced back into her own body, Perona pouted. Insulted that he would treat a piece of her spirit so callously, she created another to float beside her to spite the rude man.

The rest of the Gecko Pirates were already waiting for them at the ship, and they set sail for the Grand Line. Master Moria wanted the treasure, the One Piece, and he led them on a path of infamy and death to possess it. All the way through Paradise and into the New World, until they reached Wano and lost everyone. Kaido and his Beast Pirates struck down all in their way, every crew mate and comrade falling to their strength until only Master Moria and herself were left alive.

As they fled, her Master spirited away the corpse and sword of a renowned swordsman, bringing the unusual treasures with them. They kept the corpse in the bowels of the ship, and Perona spent much of her time kneeling beside the body as they sought out a more permanent home. It was decrepit. And dead. Cold and still and smelled like rot, and she was fascinated, taking in every detail of what happened to a human body after it died. Weathered, gray skin and hollowed eyes. A chest that never moved, and a heart that never beat. She often wondered if she would ever look like that one day.

She thought to ask Master Moria one day, but he did not understand her fascination. The loss of his crew never left him, their absence haunting him until he clung to her as the last remnant of the people he had led to their deaths. He wholly rejected the possibility of her possible future demise. In the face of his care and mourning, Perona abandoned the body of the famous samurai, instead spending her time with her Master as he took them home to the West Blue. It was there that they discovered an island named Thriller Bark. 

Master Moria wanted to turn it into a ship.

Years crawled by as he worked, but they did not touch her as they did Master Moria. As he aged and changed, Perona remained exactly as she had ever been. She didn’t grow taller, never gained or lost weight, and was as perfect as the day she’d been made. Once they realized that, something seemed to change with Master Moria. While he converted the island, he wanted her to search the graveyards for any bodies still in decent condition. Any unfortunate visitors had their shadows snipped and turned into zombies. Master Moria liked them for their inability to truly die, and Perona liked them because they were just like her. 

When their new home could follow the direction of Master Moria’s plans, they returned to the Grand Line. They settled inside the Florian Triangle, where interminable darkness and a heavy blanket of mist coated their moving island. Their home was perfect, the two and their zombies soon joined by more. A new crew. 

Absalom was the first human member to join the new Thriller Bark Pirates. Perona didn’t like him very much. He was creepy and weird and made gross sex doll jokes to her before her explosive hollows convinced him to stop.

After him came Doctor Hogback. He was odd, but Master Moria was very excited about him and his surgical skills. He was prepared to fix up more corpses for a zombie army as long as his old dead crush got a shadow. The doctor stitched together all sorts of cute animal zombies for Perona, and she loved them. Her favorite was Kumashi the bear.

Everything was good.

They were a strange, happy little family.

Then the Strawhats came.

And Kuma sent her away.

The island she crash landed on was dark and gloomy with a large castle all but begging her to move in. It was beautiful and perfect, but it wasn’t home. Perona missed Master Moria and the others and her beloved dolls. It was lonely. Ever since Master Moria found her, she’d never been alone, always by his side. There was a part of her that abhorred being alone. She thinks it’s because she was coated in dust when they met, so she must have been by herself for a long time Before.

Her loneliness eased when the green haired swordsman appeared, but the ache remained until the ruler of the empty castle returned, a familiar golden stare piercing her. 

Perona shook her head to shed the memories, rising from bed to pull a peach sweater on over her panties. After sliding on a pair of her striped thigh-high stockings and checking her makeup, she went in search of her lover. 

It wasn’t difficult to find him - he spent a lot of time in the library these days - and he looked up from his book with a soft smile when she entered the room. Perona giggled and skipped over to the chaise lounge to join him, kissing the gray hairs by his temple. Mihawk sipped his red wine and uncrossed his legs so that she could lie down and rest her head in his lap. When he put the glass down, she claimed his hand for herself, interlocking their fingers and pressing her lips to the wrinkled skin. His gentle baritone voice began reading aloud to her, and she sighed in contentment.

His voice would always stay with her, even After when she’s left to haunt the castle alone.

Just a possessed doll that tried to play at being human.

**Author's Note:**

> I love Perona so much.


End file.
